Michael Spyres was born and raised in the Ozarks and grew up in an extremely musical family. Mr. Spyres is one of the most sought-after Tenors of his generation with 8 DVDs and 27 CDs to his name, and he has been celebrated in the world’s most prestigious international opera houses, festivals and concert halls. Accomplished and acclaimed in the widest range of repertoire, he has tackled every genre from Baroque to Classical to 20th century, while firmly establishing himself as an expert within the Bel Canto repertoire as well as within Rossini and French Grand Opera.

In the 2022/23 season, the superstar tenor appears in the title role of Idomeneo and as Pollione in Norma at the Metropolitan Opera, returns to the Opéra National of Paris as Don José in Carmen and performs Jupiter in a new production of Semele at the Bayerische Staatsoper’s Munich Opera Festival. On the concert platform, Michael performs the tenor solo part of Verdi’s Messa da Requiem at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées conducted by Daniele Gatti, Handel’s Messiah in London led by John Nelson, Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius with the Hallé Orchestra and Sir Mark Elder in Manchester, the title role of Berlioz’ La damnation de Faust with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Stéphane Denève, Pollione with the Ensemble Resonanz and Riccardo Minasi in Hamburg and Cologne as well as Don José in concert in Strasbourg. Solo concerts and recitals lead him to New York, Washington D.C., London, Paris, Berlin, Montpellier, Nîmes and Antwerp.

In his meteoric rise Michael has quickly established himself as one of the greatest singers of his generation and has sung at many of the world’s most prestigious opera houses, concert halls and festivals such as he Teatro alla Scala, Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera Covent Garden, Paris Opéra National, Bayerische Staatsoper Munich, Teatro Real Madrid, Liceu Barcelona, Lyric Opera Chicago, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, La Monnaie Brussels, Dutch National Opera, Semperoper Dresden, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées of Paris, Carnegie Hall , Gewandhaus Leipzig, Bunka Kaikan Hall Tokyo, Salzburg Festival, Aix-en-Provence Festival, Rossini Opera Festival Pesaro, the Edinburgh Festival and the BBC Proms.

Since 2015 Michael has had the honor to be the only International Opera Star who is not just a performer but also an impresario. Mr. Spyres has been the Artistic Director of his hometown opera company, the Ozarks Lyric Opera, and has been involved in every aspect of the renaissance of his regional company. In addition to being the active Artistic Director he has translated libretti and actively teaches masterclasses while guiding young artists’ careers. The last years have seen him produce numerous events as well as 6 operas and gala concerts. For the 2019/2020 season Michael wrote/produced the 40th anniversary gala as well as an original pastiche on the life of Handel.

Michael has worked with some of the world’s most renowned conductors such as Barenboim, A. Davis, Elder, Gardiner, Gardner, Gatti, Gergiev, Haïm, Luisi, Mariotti, Muti, Nézet-Séguin, Pappano, Petrenko, Pichon, Pidò, Rousset, Young and Zedda.

In 2021, Michael was distinguished with the prestigious Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres designation by the government of France.

April 2023